5th Avenue Apple store

By 5:33 a.m. EDT, the line at the 5th Avenue Apple store in Manhattan had stretched to somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 or 90 people--an hour and a half before the store opened its doors. Here, people waiting in line have been moved off the street and into a formation set with metal barricades. The store, normally open 24/7, was closed at midnight in preparation.

Apple store in NYC at 4:30 a.m.

14th Street Apple store

Down in the Meatpacking District, the shopping-and-nightlife hub that houses Manhattan's newest Apple store on the corner of 14th Street and 9th Avenue, there were about 15 people in line for the iPhone at 4:47 a.m. EDT, and most say they've been in line for less than an hour.

Apple store SF

Marketers have started to show up

At around 6:15 a.m. EDT, marketers started to show up at a New York Apple store, including this representative from an electronics recycling site called YouRenew.com who is wearing a very impressive iPhone costume.